Joe Kennedy III announces run for Congress in Newton, Milford

Joe Kennedy III, son of former Congressman Joe Kennedy II and grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, kicked off his campaign for the Congressional district Thursday morning shaking hands with commuters at the Newton Centre T stop. He also visited Crivello’s Crossing on Depot Street in Milford this morning.“I...

By Chloe Gotsis

Milford Daily News

By Chloe Gotsis

Posted Feb. 16, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 16, 2012 at 4:17 PM

By Chloe Gotsis

Posted Feb. 16, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 16, 2012 at 4:17 PM

Newton

» Social News

Joe Kennedy III, son of former Congressman Joe Kennedy II and grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, kicked off his campaign for Congress Thursday morning shaking hands with commuters at the Newton Centre T stop. He also visited Crivello’s Crossing on Depot Street in Milford this morning.

“I’m very proud of my family’s record in public service,” Kennedy told the media in Newton after meeting voters, adding that he is going to work to gain the respect of voters everyday. “This campaign, like any other campaign, is going to be about the issues.”

Kennedy, 31, a former prosecutor with the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, announced in January that he was exploring a run for the seat currently held by Barney Frank, who is retiring. In the month since, he's taken steps toward firming up his candidacy -- including officially quitting his job with the state and moving from Cambridge into the district in Brookline. He also secured the same political consultant firm as U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren, Northwind Strategies, run by former aides to Gov. Deval Patrick.

He officially launched his campaign in a video in which he says he’s spoken to people from “across Massachusetts that believe that Washington no longer works for them. People from Newton to Fall River see a government that’s become more interested in stacking the deck than allowing every person a fair chance to play their hand.”

“I believe this country was founded on a simple idea that every person deserves to be treated fairlty by eachother and by their government, but that’s not happening in America,” he says in his video.

Echoing the message his family has long promoted, Kennedy cited examples in his professional career in which he has worked for social justice for others including as a legal aid volunteer where he represented tenants mistreated by landlords, he said, and as a prosecutor in which he said he fought for fairness in the courtroom.

Kennedy, a former Peace Corps volunteer, told reporters that he hopes to reach across party lines like his uncle former Sen. Ted Kennedy.

“We are able to work things out,” he said. “My uncle, Senator Kennedy, was famous for reaching across the aisle.”